Into the Woods
Sep. 9th, 2005 10:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
garnigalAh, yes, my jealous friends, I went to yet another play at Stratford on Wednesday night. I attended with saratinia, whatawookie, and scarletmote (planned by saratinia and whatawookie - Thanks, guys!)
The play was wonderful. I wasn't familiar with the plot, other than what I'd read on the Festival website. It was on the Avon Theatre stage, a theatre I'd never been to, so that was neat too.
The Review
The Plot:
It's a musical based on a number of fairy tales. Most important are Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood. The first act is the successful completion of all of the fairy tales. The second act is the falling apart of the happily ever afters.
The Music:
It was good. A lot more complex than most musicals. I'm not tempted to buy the cd because I don't think it's all that singable for a single untrained voice (not a lot of solos, and the ones there are were musically complex). At the same time, a brilliant musical with the right cast. It's always an honour to hear complex music performed well, and that's what we heard on Wednesday. The stand out voices were Barbara Fulton as Little Red Ridinghood, Susan Gilmour as the Witch, and of course, one of my favourites, Bruce Dow as the Baker. I saw him as Nicely-Nicely in Guys and Dolls last year. They were also my favourite roles - rich, meaty and well-rounded.
The movement was interesting. There is no "choreography" as such, in fact, there's no choreographer listed. Instead, there's a lot of natural movement, clumping in conversation groups, that kind of thing. It really worked for this, though I admit I missed the pure athleticism and spectacle of a dance sequence.
The Set:
The set was really neat. An excellent use of a traditional proscenium arch stage. The first scene took place entirely on the apron, with a solid backdrop with doors and windows to allow the actors passage. Then the drop lifted and the entire stage became the autumn woods. The stage itself remained very open, allowing a lot of movement, and the actors brought small set pieces on stage for their scene. My favourite pieces were the cows and the luggage in the shape of houses.
Overall:
I really enjoyed it. I laughed a lot, and the best bits were the little touches, like putting a pecker on the Wolf, or the Prince saying "I was raised to be charming, not sincere." I was surprised by the darkness of it - they used the nice, spooky versions of the fairy tales (Rapunzel wanders the desert and gives birth to twins, people keep getting eyes gouged out, that kind of thing). At the end of the show, the four of us had a lot to talk about, and I think we all enjoyed it, with each of us having different favourite parts - a sign of a truly great show.
The play was wonderful. I wasn't familiar with the plot, other than what I'd read on the Festival website. It was on the Avon Theatre stage, a theatre I'd never been to, so that was neat too.
The Review
The Plot:
It's a musical based on a number of fairy tales. Most important are Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood. The first act is the successful completion of all of the fairy tales. The second act is the falling apart of the happily ever afters.
The Music:
It was good. A lot more complex than most musicals. I'm not tempted to buy the cd because I don't think it's all that singable for a single untrained voice (not a lot of solos, and the ones there are were musically complex). At the same time, a brilliant musical with the right cast. It's always an honour to hear complex music performed well, and that's what we heard on Wednesday. The stand out voices were Barbara Fulton as Little Red Ridinghood, Susan Gilmour as the Witch, and of course, one of my favourites, Bruce Dow as the Baker. I saw him as Nicely-Nicely in Guys and Dolls last year. They were also my favourite roles - rich, meaty and well-rounded.
The movement was interesting. There is no "choreography" as such, in fact, there's no choreographer listed. Instead, there's a lot of natural movement, clumping in conversation groups, that kind of thing. It really worked for this, though I admit I missed the pure athleticism and spectacle of a dance sequence.
The Set:
The set was really neat. An excellent use of a traditional proscenium arch stage. The first scene took place entirely on the apron, with a solid backdrop with doors and windows to allow the actors passage. Then the drop lifted and the entire stage became the autumn woods. The stage itself remained very open, allowing a lot of movement, and the actors brought small set pieces on stage for their scene. My favourite pieces were the cows and the luggage in the shape of houses.
Overall:
I really enjoyed it. I laughed a lot, and the best bits were the little touches, like putting a pecker on the Wolf, or the Prince saying "I was raised to be charming, not sincere." I was surprised by the darkness of it - they used the nice, spooky versions of the fairy tales (Rapunzel wanders the desert and gives birth to twins, people keep getting eyes gouged out, that kind of thing). At the end of the show, the four of us had a lot to talk about, and I think we all enjoyed it, with each of us having different favourite parts - a sign of a truly great show.
